A motorcyclist who mowed down a schoolgirl while jumping a red traffic light and then fled the scene has avoided jail.

The traumatised 12-year-old victim suffered a broken leg requiring six months in a cast, preventing her from dancing and seeing friends.

Travis Potts, of Dover, hit her with his black KTM Duke motorcycle as she crossed London Road on the morning of November 11, 2021.

The 22-year-old broadband installer, who was himself a victim of a hit-and-run when he was a boy, rode away from the scene as pedestrians rushed to the little girl’s aid.

Potts was handed a suspended sentence at Canterbury Crown Court, where details of the horrific accident emerged.

“[The victim] was on her way to school in the morning as she got to the junction and needed to cross that road,” prosecutor Nicholas Jones said.

“She waited at the lights, the pedestrian lights turned to green and she, along with other pedestrians, crossed the road.

“She was struck by this defendant who had gone through a red light."

The court heard the little girl was “knocked across the road” and onto the floor, prompting onlookers to alert the emergency services.

She was rushed by road ambulance to hospital and treated with a double leg fracture, which required a cast for six months.

Meanwhile, Potts rode away from the scene but handed himself into a police station later the same day.

He told detectives his helmet visor steamed up causing him to jump the light and, after panicking following the crash, failed to stop.

In a bizarre coincidence, Potts' appearance in court on Wednesday came almost 10 years to the day since he himself was knocked down by a hit-and-run driver in Dover.

He was also 12-years-old at the time of the collision in Folkestone Road, when he suffered a suspected fracture to his knee.

As for the girl Potts hit with his motorbike, it is still unclear when her injuries will fully heal.

Since the ordeal she has suffered disturbed sleep patterns, flashbacks, fear of going back to the scene and anxiety.

She has also missed out on seeing friends and enjoying dancing - her favourite leisure activity.

Mitigating, Alan Balneaves, said Potts felt “genuinely crestfallen” since the accident and “feels awful over what he did”.

He stressed that the defendant handed himself in and made an early guilty plea.

And he added Potts had turned his life around after a traumatic childhood and subsequent issues with drink and drugs.

Handing down 12-months custody suspended for two years, Judge Simon James told Potts: “[You] collided with a 12-year-old girl, knocking her over and breaking her leg in two places.

“You claimed not to have seen the traffic light because the visor of your helmet steamed up.”

But Judge James said the fact Potts decided to continue driving was “criminally reckless” and dangerous behaviour.

“You drove away from the scene. Although I accept your conscience got the better of you. You presented yourself to the police and made full and frank admissions.”

He told Potts he was prepared to give him a “last, final chance” and acknowledged he had since become a “productive citizen”.

The judge ordered Potts, of St John’s Road, to complete 20 probation days, 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £250 costs.

He was banned from driving for three years and will be required to take an extended retest.